Manufacture of an improved tea product



June 23, 1959 c. wi scHRoEDER 2,891,866

MANUFACTURE OF AN IMPROVED TEA PRODUCT Filed .June '4, 1956 IN VEN TOR.CHARLES W. SCHROEDER TTORNEYS United States Patent MANUFACTURE 0F ANIMPROVED TEA PRODUCT Charles W. Schroeder, Teaneck, NJ., assignor toThomas J. Lipton, Inc., Hoboken, NJ., a corporation of DelawareApplication .lune 4, 1956, Serial No. 589,182

12 Claims. (Cl. 99--77) This invention relates to tea extracts,concentrates and powders and especially to those that may bereconstituted with hard Water to produce a haze-free beverage.

Soluble tea powders already on the market have many disadvantages amongwhich is that when they are dissolved in hard water to produce abeverage, even if the water is warm or hot, a haze may form in thesolution causing the beverage to be less attractive to the consumer thanbeverages which are sparkling clear. The specific cause for theformation of such haze is not known, but it is known that the hazeappears when the beverage stands for a period of time, often 1/1 to 3hours, and may yappear |whether the tea is hot or cold.

One object of the invention is to treat tea extracts or derivativesthereof in such a way that the extracts or concentrates or dried powdersprepared therefrom will not form a hazy or cloudy solution When dilutedto beverage strength with hard water.

Another object is to carry out the treatment in `a manner so that theavor and color of the beverage are maintained.

Still another object is to produce a product which is free of thetendency to form a haze or cloud when mixed with hard water and alsofree of a tendency to form a precipitate or cream of less soluble teasolids at low temperatures of the order of those of cold beverage tea.

In practicing the invention, the tea leaves are steeped in a solvent,such as hot water, thereby to extract a large part of the solubleingredients from the tea and produce a liquid extract which has aconcentration of soluble tea solids substantially greater than in teanormally brewed for beverage consumption. The extract or a derivativethereof is treated with a calcium salt in an amount eiective to producea precipitate in the solution, followed by removal of the precipitatefrom the solution.

Tea leaves that have been processed and dried according to standardprocedures may be used in practicing the invention. The tea leaves maybe black or fully fermented varieties such as Ceylon, South India, orIndonesia, or mixtures thereof. Oolong or semi-fermented teas such asFormosa may be used. The leaves may be whole or comminuted, for example,even to a powder.

A hot water extraction of the tea leaves is carried out bycountercurrent or continuous extraction procedures, multiple fresh watercontacts or equivalent procedures to produce an extract preferablyhaving a concentration of at least about 2.5% hot water-soluble solids.The concentration of soluble tea ingredients may be as high assaturation at the temperature prevailing in the extractor. The extractis then or after further processing treated with the calcium salt.

Different teas, depending upon their geographical origin, the type ofgrowing season, the type of cultivation and other factors, will exhibitdifferent tendencies to produce haziness or cloudiness in hard water.The amount of calcium salt required to make a product free of thetendency to produce haziness will vary among teas. In most cases,however, the required amount of 'calcium salt ex- 2,891,866 PatentedJune 23, 1959 pressed as equivalent calcium'willbe at least about 0.3%of the total soluble tea solids inthe solution or extract being treated.Amounts of calcium salt considerably in excess of that necessary tovproduce complete precipitation or insolubilization of thecalcium-precipitable material may be used. However, there is lno*advantage in using such excessive quantities and accordingly, it ispreferred that the amount of calcium `salt be kept below the amount thatis equivalent to about 1.0% calcium based on the tea solids. Dependingupon the type of tea, the amount of precipitate 'formed and removed willbe in the approximate range of l2 to 4%, again based on the totalquantity of normally Asoluble 'tea solids.

The tea solution 'containing the lcalcium salt is held, preferably withmild agitation, until insoluble solids are precipitated rand substantialequilibrium is reached. About one-half hour to three hours is generallysuiicient for that purpose, but the holding time may be as much as24hours 'or longer.

The preferred rm'etlro'd for separating the haze-forming precipitatefrom the tea extract is by centrifugin-g and Westfalia clarifier ModelNo. KDD604 has been found to be satisfactory. However, any other type ofapparatus designed to remove suspended solids `from a liquid may beemployed. When the Westfalia clarifier is used, the liquid may be fed to'it at the rate of 3 lbs. per minute (22.5 gallons per hr.,). Thecentrifuge bowl holds 4.2 pounds and rotates at '10,000 r,p.m. It has aninside diameter of '6% in`ches,'` producing a maximum centrifugal forceof 9,000 vtimes gravity.A It is vpreferred to operate the centrifuge sothat there is no? air space within the bowl nor an air fgapy at the bowldischarge. Such air spaces tend to interfere with the separation and toaerate the tea thereby causing deteriorationofilavor and color.

One procedure for carrying out the process ofthe present invention isvillustrated in the flow diagram attached hereto and designatedFigure l.

Reference number 10 indicates a counter-current extractor. Tea leavesare introduced -to extractor l0 at l2 and 'the hot extractant islintroduced at 15. The leaves are steeped in the extractant at anelevated temperature and for time to produce an extract having aconcentration of at VleastA about 25%. The extracted `leaves are removedat 11. v

The liquid withdrawn/'from 'extractor 110 through the pipe 16,vdesignated 'as"Dilute Extract, may be passed through the strainer2'1'toremove extraneous undissolved solid portions of the tea or otherextraneous material, or may be centrifuged V4at Aelevated temperatures,eg., about F., for the same purpose. The dilute extract generallycontains about 31/2 to 5% soluble tea solids. The tea aroma along withvsome of the water may be removed by evaporation Vand the aromaconcentrated in separate operations. The remaining `cle-aromatizedextract may contain, vfor example,"about 4 to 6% of soluble tea solidsand is fed through the pipe '29 kto the vessel 31, to which there isalso added the desired amount of calcium salt through the valve '31',suitably inthe form of an aqueous solution. The amount of calcium saltis sutlioient to precipitate the material 'in the tea which would besusceptible to precipitation by hard water to produce a hazy 'teabeverage. It is then held in the vessel Y31 (it` desired ata'temperature high enoughto prevent the formation of a precipitateor"cream 'of the less soluble tea solids as more fully ldescribedhereinafter) for time sufficient for the precipitate to form, afterwhich it is vpassed on to the `centrifuge 32, which -is 7preferably `ofthe type of the Westfalia clarifier described above and centrifuged atthe desired temperature. Insolubleprecipitate is periodically.withdrawnat 35. The 'clear de-aromatized extract flows through'the pipe36'and into a-vacuum concentrator '37, which r maybe ofanygenerallyyknown type intended for heat sensitive materials, suitably one in whichliquid is heated in a tubular heater v318 and evaporation of liquidtakes place in chamber 37. It may operate, for example, at 26 to 29inches of Hg vacuum and 150 F. to 100 F. eluent temperature. In place ofthe recirculating evaporator, a falling film evaporator with or withoutan internal agitator may be desirable, and single pass and/or multiplestages may be provided. The efuent of the concentrator 37 (concentratedextract) contains about 25 to 50% tea solids and ows through the pipe 40to a vessel 41. The distillate (primarily water) is condensed in awater-cooled condenser 42 and Withdrawn.

The concentrated aroma may be added to the concentrated extract in thevessel 41. The fluid in vessel 41 may be used as such to produce in hardwater tea beverages free of cloudiness due to hardness. However, it isoptional, according to the invention, to produce a dry powder by spraydrying or other suitable methods.

In the procedure outlined in Figure l, the calcium salt is added to thede-aromatized extract. However, the calcium salt treatment may beapplied to other process material if desired, such as the dilute extractor the concentrated extract.

Following is an example of how the method of the invention may becarried out.

Example 1 A blend composed of one part of Ceylon black tea, one part ofJ ava black tea and one part of South Indian black tea is extracted by ahot countercurrent extraction process. Fine insoluble material isremoved `by passing the extract through a centrifuge at a temperature ofabout 140 F., the dilute extract produced having about 4% soluble teasolids content. The dilute extract is then passed through a vacuum flashevaporator operated at a vacuum of 27 inches of mercury, and about 20%of the extract feed is removed as a dilute aroma vapor. The remaining80%, dearomatized extract, which contains 4.9% soluble tea solids, isdivided into two portions, i.e., a control, and a test portionsubsequently to be treated with calcium chloride as hereinafterdescribed. After the treatment with calcium chloride the extract ispassed through a Westfalia KDD604 six-chamber centrifuge operating at9000 r.c.f. at the rate of about 19 gallons per hour. Any precipitateproduced by the treatment with calcium chloride is removed by thecentrifuge, hence, the effluent is clear. The precipitated solids areremoved from the centrifuge bowl by washing with distilled water, driedand weighed.

The dearomatized extract is heated to a temperature of 135 F. and to itis added 2.07 parts of calcium chloride per 100 parts of soluble teasolids in the extract. Calcium chloride is added as a 50% solution andthe equivalent amount of calcium is 0.75% based on the soluble teasolids. The extract is then stirred briey and allowed to stand in asteam jacketed kettle for 2 hours, after which time the temperature hasdropped to 122 F. About half of the treated extract is withdrawn,stirred for 15 minutes, heated and centrifuged at 130 F. (average ofinlet and outlet temperatures) through preheated bowls. The centrifugateis checked for haze formation by the procedure described below.

The remainder of the treated extract is allowed to stand for 20 hours atroom temperature and is reheated to 135 F., stirred for l5 minutes andcentrifuged through preheated bowls at 135 F. The new centrifugatecontains 4.83% soluble solids. 4.53 parts of precipitate per 100 partsof soluble tea solids are recovered. Haze tests are carried out on thecentrifugates and the control extract by diluting them to aconcentration of 0.3% of soluble tea solids with boiling spring water(130 ppm. hardness). The development of haze in the diluted samples asthey stand at room temperature is then observed and the results aresummarized in the following'table. Th@ DU-mbl's in al the ta'bleindicate increasing haziness from the value of 1 (very slightly hazy) tol0 (very cloudy).

The rst observation is on the hot diluted samples immediately afterdilution, the other observations are made after the samples have cooledto room temperature or below. Both of the calcium chloride treatedsamples are clear or almost clear immediately and reach the same degreeof haziness after chilling. At this time the control sample contains athick cloud. Thus the treatment of tea: extracts with calcium salt andthe allowance of suliicient time to form the precipitate prove to beeffective in minimizing the formation of haze in tea beverages producedby diluting the extract with hard water.

In carrying out the process of the invention, the extract may bemaintained at an elevated temperature in the interval between the timeof addition of the calcium salt and the time of centrifuging, or it maybe cooled in the interim, as described in Example 1. However, if suchinterval is prolonged, it is preferable to cool the extract to roomtemperature or below to prevent deterioration in the quality, eg., theflavor of the tea.

Although the invention is not limited with respect to the temperature at'which the treatment of the extract with calcium salt is effected, itmay be convenient to remove the precipitate produced by the calcium saltat lower temperatures at which the less soluble components of thedissolved tea solids which would tend to produce cloudiness or cream incold tea beverages are precipitated, and thereby carry outsimultaneously both the process herein described and the processdescribed in the application of Seltzer et al. Serial No. 554,533, filedDecember 21, 1955. The product of such a combined process will be freeof any tendency to produce cloudiness caused by cooling, as well as thatcaused by water hardness. In this case the amount of solids removed dueto creaming as specified in the Seltzer et al. application and theamount removed due to calcium salt precipitation will be cumulative.Such an operation fulfills one of the objects of the invention set forthabove.

Referring to Figure l, the combined operations of decreaming and calciumsalt treatment may be carried out in vessel 31 by maintaining thetemperature of the extract therein below F. to precipitate 5 to 25%,preferably 1020%, of the dissolved tea solids from the cooling actionalone, as described in the above-identied Seltzer et al. application,and separating the precipitated solids at such temperature. The calciumsalt may be added through pipe and valve 31', so that it will becomemixed with the fluid which is being subjected to de-creaming. Thetemperature at which the precipitate is removed is taken as the averageof the inlet and outlet liquid temperatures at the centrifuge, whichapproaches the temperature of equilibrium between precipitated anddissolved solids. The precipitate removed periodically at 35 from thecentrifuge 32 will include the material precipitated by the calcium saltand the material precipitated due to its insolubility at lowertemperatures. ln the operation in which the calcium salt is added to thedilute extract and the precipitate which forms is removed, the materialthat would have been precipitated in the vessel 31 will not be present,so that the precipitate later formed in vessel 31 due to cooling, andremoved in centrifuge 32, will be composed only of the cold waterinsoluble Components of the dissolved tea solids.

The following examples are presented as descriptions of procedures inwhich both the calcium salt treatment and the de-creaming process may becarried out simultaneously.

Example 2 50 grams of Ceylon black tea are extracted for 5 minutes with400 ml. of distilled water starting at a temperature of 212 anddecreasing to 184 F. The spent leaves are strained out and the resulting225 ml'. of extract is found to contain 3.8% of soluble tea solids. The`still hot extract is separated into 25 m1. portions. To the first fourportions amounts of a 1% solution of calcium chloride (CaCl2) are addedas follows: 0.5, 1.0,y

1.5 and 2.0 ml. (0.19%, .38%, 0.57% and 0.76% cal'- cium, respectively,based on dissolved tea solids). To a fifth portion which is the control,no calcium chloride is added. Precipitation takes place immediately inthe samples to which calcium chloride is added. The samples are frozenovernight, then warmed to room temperature and swirled intermittentlyfor an hour. They are ltered through Whatman #3 filter paper and allpass through at about the same rate. Each filtrate is diluted with sevenvolumes of water having calcium hardness of about 90 ppm. The controlsample and that to which 0.5 ml. of calcium chloride solution hadoriginally been added, begin to exhibit haze in about an hour and becomecloudy after `several hours. The sample treated with 1.0 ml. of calciumchloride becomes slightly hazy after several hours. The sample to whichthe larger amounts of calcium chloride have been added do not exhibitany cloudiness.

Example 3 A quantity of Ceylon black tea is extracted with hot tap waterby a countercurrent method, and after removal of spent leaves yieldsabout 40 lbs. of extract containing 4.2% tea solids. Before allowing theextract to cool it is divided into two parts, designated parts A'and B.To portion A is added an amount of calcium chloride dihydrate(CaClg-ZHZO) equivalent to 1.5% of anhydrous salt on a soluble teasolids basis or 0.54% calcium on the same basis. No calcium chloride isadded to portion B. The two portions are then cooled to 75 F., agitatedone hour and centrifuged at 75 F. in' a Westfalia clariier Model No.KDD604 to remove the cream and the calcium precipitate, or the creamonly. The clarified extracts are then evaporated to about 35% solidscontent, an amount of corn syrup solids equal to the tea solids isdissolved in them, and the solutions are spray dried.

Each of the powders obtained from parts A and B are divided again intotwo parts, A and A and B and B", respectively. Samples A and B' aredissolved at 45 F. in natural spring water having 140 p.p.m. hardness,and samples A and B in similar water at a temperature of about 100 F.The amounts of powder are suiiicient to produce solutions of 0.3% teasolids content, which is approximately the strength of tea beverage asconsumed. Both solutions A and A are clear, while both solutions B and Bbecome hazy within about 15 minutes and are very cloudy within one totwo hours. Portions A and A", which have been treated with calciumchloride, do not have any detectable flavor change as compared with theuntreated portion B, in the judgment of a professional tea taster.

Example 4 Twelve parts by weight of Ceylon tea leaves are extractedusing countercurrent technique with water at 170 to 212 F. to produce anextract containing 3.9% soluble tea solids, which is about,87% of thetotal extractable solids present in the tea. The extract is strained toremove insoluble solids such as bits of leaf and foreign matter. Theextract is fed while hot to a Astripping still operated under a vacuumof at least 25 of mercury at a temperature of about 135 F., dependingupon the vacuum. This is a single pass evaporator and the vaporproduced, which is about 18.5 parts' and is designated as dilute aroma,is withdrawn, concentrated and condensed.

The unvaporized liquid, amounting to about parts and' designatedV asde=aromatized extract, is withdrawn from the still through a pump. Itcontains about 4.8% soluble teaY solids. To the dearomatized extractthere is added calcium chloride based on the amount of dissolved teasolids, which is equivalent to 0.54% calcium on the same basis. Thecalcium chloride is added to the extract and the calcium chloridetreated extract is cooled to 75 F.v according to procedures described inthe prev'ously'mentioned copending application of Seltzer etv al.` toproducel simultaneous creaming and precipitation' ofv insolublematerials by the calcium salt per se. After the addition of the calciumchloride, the treated extract is'held vfor about an hour' in' order toallow time for the'precipitation to be completed and is then passedthrough avWestfalia clarifier Model No. KDD604 operated at 10,000 r.p.m.(9,000 r.c.f.). A clarified extract is removed from the centrifuge. Theamount of cream and calcium precipitate retained in the centrifugeA isabout .8 to .85v part, equivalent to about 19 to 21% of the totalsoluble tea solids in the original extract, and there is withdrawn fromthe centrifuge 79 parts of de-creamed extract` containing about 4.2%solids. The calcium chloride treated and clarified extract is then fedto a vacuum concentrator still operated under a vacuum of about 27 ofmercury at 122 F. The amount of concentrated product recovered is about13 parts and contains about 25% solids.

The concentratedaroma is mixed with the concentrated -extract and to themixture there is preferably added an amount of corn syrup solids equalto the solids in the extract, i.e., 3 .3 parts, thereby to produce asolution of about 37% solids content. The latter is pre-heated and fedto the spray dryer, preferably at a temperature of 110 to 130 F.(pre-heated to this temperature if necessary). The inlet temperature ofthe dryer air is 438 to 441 F. and the outlet air temperature is 218 to225 F. A powdered tea product is recovered, the amount thereof being.substantially all that originally present in the dilute extract minusthe amount removed in the centrifuging. The powdered tea product isreadily soluble in hot -or coldhard water and will not producecloudiness upon standing. The tea beverages produced by dissolving .thepowder in water have acceptable color and flavor, of the order of thatobtainable from tea made by infusion of the leaves.

Example 5 Separate extracts are prepared from two types of South Indiablack tea (referred to herein as types A and B), a Ceylon blacky tea anda Java black tea by extracting 100 g. of each type of tea leaves withseparate 800 cc. portions of boiling water for five minutes and thenfiltering the extract while hot. The amount of soluble tea solids ineach of the extracts is determined and calculated amounts of 1.5% CaCl2solution are added to portions of the extracts at -l30 F. to supply 1.6%CaClZ (0.58% calcium) based on the amounts of soluble tea solids in eachextract. The control samples are treated with equivalent amounts ofdistilled water. All of the samplesthen are stored overnight underrefrigeration (40 E), brought again to room temperature and filtered toremove precipitated cream and precipitate formed by the addition of thecalcium chloride. The ltrates are analyzed for (1) total solids content,(2) color, and (3) haze formation after dilution with seven volumes ofhard spring water parts per million hardness) and after storage for onehour at room temperature. Observations of haze .formation are also madeafter a further storage period in the refrigerator at 40 F. Theprocedure described is repeated using equivalent amounts (based on thecalcium) of calci-um acetate instead of calcium chloaeanaee ride for thetreatment of the tea extracts. The results of the measurements andobservations are presented 1n the following table:

In this specification there has been described what is believed to bethe best mode of practicing the invention, but the invention is notconfined to the embodiment The samples prepared from the calciumchloride-treated extracts and the calcium acetate-treated extracts havea satisfactory color, comparable to that of the control samples.

Example 6 20 A portion of Sumatra Black tea is extracted with hot waterand the suspended tea iines and sediment are removed by centrifugation.The clarified extract contains 4.93% soluble tea solids. A part of thissolution (desig- 25 nated as sample 1 is reserved for testing of hazeformation on dilution with hard water. The remainder is divided into twoportion. The first portion is brought to a temperature of 75 F. and heldat this temperature for one hour, While stirring slowly to producecreaming 30 of a portion of the less soluble tea solids. It is thencentrifuged according to the procedures prescribed in the precedingexamples. A portion of the centrifugate (sample 2 is reserved fortesting of its haze formation properties. The balance of thecentrifugate from the first portion is brought to a temperature of 80 F.and 1.57% CaCl2, on the tea solids basis is added thereto as a 6.8%aqueous solution. This is equivalent to 0.57% calcium on the same basis.The mixture is then slowly stirred at 80 F. for one hour. It is thencentrifuged and a portion of the centrifugate (sample 3 is reserved fortests on haze formation. The amounts of solid material precipitated bythe creaming and calcium chloride treatments are measured.

To the second portion of the clarified tea extract there is added 1.60%CaCl2 (soluble tea solids basis), which is equivalent to 0.58% calcium.The mixture is held for one hour, stirring slowly at 75 F. to producecreaming of the less soluble components of the dissolved tea solids andis then centrifuged. A portion of the centrifugate (sample 4 is reservedfor analysis. The amount of precipitate removed and recovered ismeasured. Tests on haze formation are carried out by diluting one partof the sample with seven parts of spring water having a hardness ofabout l40 ppm. The haze 55 formation is evaluated in the same manner andusing the scale as described in Example l. The results of themeasurements of haze formation and amounts of precipitates are presentedin the following table:

1 Based on 100 gms. of original dissolved tea solids.

shown. Although the use of calcium acetate and calcium chloride in theprocess of invention have been described, other calcium compounds whichwill dissolve in the solution of tea solids may be used, such as calciumcarbonate, calcium sulfate and various calcium salts of organic acids.Hence, it is intended to cover by Letters Patent the invention as setforth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. The method of reducing the tendency of a tea product to producehaziness when diluted to beverage strength with hard water, whichcomprises preparing an aqueous extract of tea leaves having soluble teasolids dissolved therein, treating said tea solids while in solution inconcentration greater than beverage strength with a non-toxic calciumcompound which dissolves therein, the amount of calcium compound beingsufficient to produce a precipitate of a portion of said tea solids butinsucient to affect adversely the davor of the tea solids, holding theso treated solution for a time to effect precipitation of a portion ofsaid solids, and separating said precipitate to produce a substantiallyclear solution of tea solids having flavor comparable to beverage teafreshly prepared from the leaves.

2. The method of reducing the tendency of a tea product to producehaziness when diluted to beverage strength with hard water, whichcomprises preparing an aqueous extract of tea leaves having soluble teasolids dissolved therein, treating said tea solids while in solution inconcentration greater than beverage strength with a non-toxic calciumsalt which dissolves therein in an amount equivalent to an amount ofcalcium of at least about 0.3% based on said tea solids, the amount ofcalcium salt being insufficient to affect adversely the quality of thetea solids for beverage use, holding the so treated solution for a timeto effect precipitation of a portion of said solids, and separating saidprecipitate to produce a substantially clear solution of tea solidswhich does not produce cloudiness when diluted to beverage strength withhard water at ordinary temperatures, said tea solids having avorcomparable to beverage tea freshly prepared from the leaves.

3. The method of reducing the tendency of a tea product to producehaziness when diluted to beverage strength with hard water, whichcomprises preparing an aqueous extract of tea leaves having soluble teasolids dissolved therein, treating said tea solids while in solutionwith a non-toxic calcium salt which dissolves therein an amountequivalent to an amount of calcium of at least about 0.3% based on saidtea solids, the amount of calcium salt being insufficient to affectadversely the avor of the tea solids, holding the so treated solutionfor a time to effect precipitation of a portion of said solids,separating said precipitate to produce a substantially clear solution oftea solids and separating at least a portion of the water associatedwith said tea solids to produce a tea product which is soluble in waterand does not produce cloudiness when diluted to beverage strength withhard water at ordinary temperatures, said tea solids having flavorcomparable to beverage tea freshly prepared from the leaves.

4. The method of claim 3 in which the tea solids concentration of thesolution to which the calcium salt is added is at least about 2.5% byweight.

5. The process as described in claim 4 in which the holding andseparating steps are carried out at a temperature below about 100 F. soas to produce creaming of tea solids Which are insoluble at theprevailing temperature, and said creamed solids are separated from suchsolution, thereby producing a product which is completely soluble anddoes not produce cloudiness when reconstituted with cold hard water atbeverage tea strength.

6. The process according to claim 3 in Which a solution of said teasolids is cooled to a temperature lo'W enough to produce creaming of teasolids which are insoluble at the prevailing temperature and saidcreamed solids are separated from such solution, thereby producing aproduct Which is completely soluble and does not produce cloudiness whenreconstituted With cold hard 'water at beverage tea strength.

7. The process according to claim 2 in Which the amount of calcium saltis in the approximate range of 0.3 to 1.0% as expressed in terms ofequivalent calcium.

8. The process according to claim 1 in which the precipiate is separatedfrom the extract by centrifuging.

9. The process according to claim 1 in which the calcium compound iscalcium chloride.

l0. The method of reducing the tendency of a tea product to producehaziness when diluted to beverage strength with hard Water, whichcomprises preparing an aqueous extract of tea leaves having soluble teasolids dissolved therein, treating said tea solids while in solution inconcentration `greater than beverage strength with a non-toxic calciumsalt which dissolves therein, the amount of calcium salt being suicientto produce a precipitate of a portion of said tea solids but insufcientto affect adversely the quality of the tea solids for beverage use,holding the so treated solution for a time to effect precipitation of aportion of said `solids and separating said precipitate to produce asubstantially clear solution of tea solids of a llavor, when diluted tobeverage strength, comparable to beverage tea freshly prepared from theleaves.

1l. The process according to claim l in which the amount of calciumcompound is not greater than `about 1.0% as expressed in terms ofequivalent calcium.

12. The method of reducing the tendency of a tea. product to producehaziness when diluted to beverage strength with hard water, whichcomprises preparing an aqueous extract of tea leaves having soluble teasolids dissolved therein, treating said tea solids While in solutionwith a non-toxic calcium compound which dissol'ves therein, the amountof calcium compound being suicient to produce a precipitate of a portionof said tea solids but insucient to affect adversely the avor of the teasolids, holding the so treated `solution for a time to eectprecipitation of a portion of said solids, separating said precipitateto produce a substantially clear solution of tea solids and separatingat least a portion of the Water associated with said tea solids toproduce a tea product which is soluble in Water and does not producecloudiness when diluted to beverage strength with hard water at ordinarytemperatures, said tea solids having ila-vor comparable to beverage teafreshly prepared from the leaves.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,854,062 Potter Apr. 12, 1932 1,916,468 Epstein July 4, 1933 352,235,700 Eldred Mar. 18, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 403,868 Great BritainJan. 4, 1934

1. THE METHOD OF REDUCING THE TENDENCY OF A TEA PRODUCT TO PRODUCEHAZINESS WHEN DILUTED TO BEVERAGE STRENGTH WITH HARD WATER, WHICHCOMPRISES PREPARING AN AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF TEA LEAVES HAVING SOLUBLE TEASOLIDS DISSOLVED THEREIN, TREATING SAID TEA SOLIDS WHILE IN SOLUTION INCONCENTRATION GREATER THAN BEVERAGE STRENGTH WITH A NON-TOXIC CALCIUMCOMPOUND WHICH DISSOLVES THEREIN, THE AMOUNT OF CALCIUM COMPOUND BEINGSUFFICIENT TO PRODUCE A PRECIPITATE OF A PORTION OF SAID TEA SOLIDS BUTINSUFFICIENT TO AFFECT ADVERSELY THE FLAVOUR OF THE TEA SOLIDS HOLDINGTHE SO TREATED SOLUTION FOR A TIME TO EFFECT PRECIPITATION OF A PORTIONOF SAID SOLID, AND SEPARATING SAID PRECIPITATE TO PRODUCE ASUBSTANTIALLY CLEAR SOLUTION OF TEA SOLIDS HAVING FLAVOR COMPARABLE TOBEVERAGE TEA FRESHLY PREPARED FROM THE LEAVES.